Good Times Bad Times
by Technophobia678
Summary: Stupid title, didn't think of one when I was writing it ah well- it's about James having a crappy year and then a better one-Lily/James eventually
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I do not own Harry Potter.

James Potter grunted as he tugged at his best friend Sirius Black. His best mate, fellow Maurader and Animagus, he was the brother James never had.

And despite this, he was, as usual, at wits end when it came to trying to get him to wake up.

"Padfoot! For the love of Merlin, will you get up; we're going to be late! I wouldn't put it past McGonagall to give us detention."

Sirius mumbled unintelligently and simply buried his head deeper into the pillow. James sighed exasperatedly. It was normally Remus who dealt with the thankless task of getting them all out of bed. But it was that time of month and James couldn't condone his poor friend for feeling crappy and not up to par as usual.

Giving up, James grabbed his wand and with a mischievous flick, summoned a fountain of water and sent it crashing down on his friends head. It had no effect save for a single grunt from Sirius, before starting to snore.

James sighed. Not again. Sirius to all intents and purposes, was a dead man when he was asleep. He idly chucked another water blast at his other mate Peter, whose squeal and accompanying thunk meant it had done the trick. The noise also roused a groggy Remus from his bed.

Satisfied with his other charges, he turned his attention to Sirius again. Flicking his wand upwards, he thought, _levicorpus!_

A flash of light and Sirius was dangling upside down as though held up by an invisible hook around the ankle. Sirius's head lolled to the side as he still slept, water dripping from his hair.

An evil grin crossed James face and he pointed his wand at Sirius's pyjamas.

A loud yell later, Sirius woke violently, swinging from side to side. Disoriented, he fumbled widely for his wand before comprehension dawned and he spotted James.

"Good morning Messer Padfoot" James said cheerfully. "How wonderful of you to join your peers on this fine summer morning."

"James!"Sirius roared, wiggling madly and shivering. He swore a mixture of colourful curses as he tried to either get down or get within striking range of James, it was unclear.

"What did you do?" Remus inquired, eyeing Sirius's state with vague interest.

"Froze his pants" James grinned as Sirius continued to swear, his voices pitch growing higher as he thrashed about. Peter giggled, having awakened enough to appreciate the hilarity of the situation.

Taking pity on his mate, James undid the curse and unfroze Sirius's pants at the same time, leaving an infuriated Padfoot lying, sopping on his bed. He raised his hands in defence at his irate best friend.

"Now don't be cross Messer Padfoot" he said in a tone worthy of their Headmaster, Dumbledore. "You see, you have never had the misfortune of trying to rouse yourself in the ungodly hours of the morning such as myself and Messer Moony have suffered with for six years. Such drastic measures would not be considered necessary for ordinary people, but..."

"You're not normal" Remus finished tiredly. "None of you are."

James grinned at his friend and then turned to Sirius who was muttering darkly and siphoning off the residue water clinging to his pyjamas.

"Cheer up mate" he said brightly. "At least you don't need to shower."

Sirius gave him a filthy look and then grinned reluctantly. "Be that as it may, Messer Prongs" he proclaimed in the same tone as James had gone with "do expect to receive my-_appreciation_- of your lengthy measures to rouse me. I trust you'll find it of _worthy _merit."

Peter let out a snort of laughter. James gave him and Remus a grin and then said, deadpan, "I'm dead aren't I?"

"Yes" Remus responded in kind, his eyes twinkling. Peter didn't even try to compose himself, he just laughed harder.

"Come on then" Sirius said briskly. "Breakfast and then a lovely encounter with Minerva, the sole reason of my existence." He bowed dramatically and the others cracked up.

They dressed and left the dormitory and the Common Room.

Sirius now awoken looked full of live, next to Remus's weary frame. He was in the midst of recounting a detention he'd been given last night (much to his displeasure and consequently the DADA teacher's last dregs of sanity) when he broke off for the slightest moment. He nodded surreptitiously to the side and continued as though uninterrupted.

James knew better and out of the corner of his glasses, he spotted his long time crush Lily Evans. His heartbeat quickened and he found it difficult to concentrate on what Padfoot was saying. From what he could see in his limited peripheral vision, Lily was with her friends Mary MacDonald, Alice Smith, and Nancy McKinnon. And judging from the looks she was sending in his direction and the way she was walking, she had spotted him and his friends.

James felt some of his cheerfulness fade as an old problem surfaced. He was obsessed with Lily, to the point he was fairly sure he was in love with her. How could he not be? She was beautiful, smart, funny in a different way than his friends were and had a fiery personality. James had fallen for her a long time ago but it made no difference to the problem-she hated him.

What was it she called him? An arrogant, bullying toerag. As if he could forget those words she flung at him at every one of his advances. It hurt somewhat, but she had a point, James was immature compared to her and it didn't help that one of his enemies happened to be her old childhood friend. It was annoying, but every time he went near her, he felt nervous and resorted being true to James Potter that everyone knew-a joking, hexing prat.

"Messer Padfoot calling Messer Prongs. Does Messer Prongs respond?"

Startled, James's head snapped up. "Huh?"

"He's alive!" Sirius and Peter cried as one. Moony snorted as they sat at the table.

"Oh shut up" James rolled his eyes.

"You were somewhere mate but you weren't here" Sirius smiled unrepentantly.

"Yeah" Peter added. "You looked like the time you got hit in the head with the Bludger."

"Which time?" James rolled his eyes again.

Remus snorted into his cornflakes.

James sighed and tucked into his own breakfast, forcing himself not to look down the table at Lily. After several years of listening to Sirius's advice on girls (which was extensive, but had no luck with Evans) he'd appealed to Remus, who said to leave her alone and act more normal. James was quite sure his mate had lost it, but Remus insisted it would wake Lily up if he stopped pestering her and it would help (he stressed repeatedly) not to hex everyone who annoyed him or because he felt like it. He had nothing else to lose so he tried it. He didn't notice any change, but Remus said to give it time.

He grimaced. Patience was not his strong suit. But he trusted Moony and he was the smart one of the lot of them.

After breakfast, they made their way down to Transfiguration. Forcing himself to stop thinking about Evans, he concentrated on chatting to the guys, while making sure Remus was alert enough to stay awake in McGonagall's class. It wasn't so bad in other classes that fell on days after the full moon, the guys covered him, but in McGonagall's they didn't wish to find her reaction if he fell asleep in hers. They played the fool with her (Sirius especially) but none of them were foolish enough to push their lick with her. Much.

Remus seemed semi alert, but at the presence of McGonagall he perked up a little. They trooped in, along with Lily and her friends and a few Hufflepuffs.

"Alright that's enough" McGonagall announced. Silence fell. "Your sixth year exams begin tomorrow and I should hope you are studying for them appropriately."

Sirius rolled his eyes at James. He grinned. Peter was looking a little worried while Remus's head drooped a little. James nudged him slightly.

"Since there is no point in covering much, I will give out some mice and kittens for you to practise Vanishing, non verbally."

Peter stifled a moan. James smiled. Peter hated Vanishing mice, having a certain affinity for rats and of course, he hated cats.

"Cheer up Wormtail, only exams tomorrow" Sirius whispered cheerfully while Professor McGonagall handed out mice and cats out. Peter just groaned quietly, while James and Sirius sniggered and Remus chuckled.

James quickly grabbed his mouse's tail, while it wriggled wildly. Quickly he Vanished it without saying a word and Peter's eyes widened in horror. James just shook his head at him and reached for the kitten. Transfiguration came easily to James, it was his best subject. Apart from Quidditch.

He was in the process of Vanishing his kitten when there was a knock at the door and Professor Slughorn stuck his large balding head in the door and beckoned to McGonagall. Immersed in his Transfiguration, he was consequently startled when Professor McGonagall's voice rang out.

"Mr. Potter, I need you to accompany me now please. Bring your things."

Puzzled, he looked at his friends and the rest of the class and then at McGonagall.

"Whatever it is, I didn't do it Professor" he said, causing the class to snigger.

"Now Potter" she ordered. She seemed grim.

James packed his bag and swung it over his shoulder. The other Marauder's looked at him confused. He shrugged, racking his brains trying to think of a reason he'd be in trouble. The only thing he could think of was when he and Sirius had hexed Barry Macmillan and they'd already got in trouble for that.

He left the classroom, aware that eyes were following him, all undoubtedly wondering what he'd done. He passed Professor Slughorn who seemed more agitated than usual. Feeling a little uneasy, he followed McGonagall down the hallway. After a couple of corridors, he realized where they were going to Professor Dumbledore's office. His unease grew.

They arrived at the gargoyle that stood guard outside Dumbledore's office.

"Cockroach cluster" McGonagall said and it moved aside. James smiled slightly. For all his brilliance, Dumbledore was a little predictable at times.

They went up the staircase and McGonagall knocked and then opened the door. She ushered James into the large circular office filled with books, odd spindly silver objects, many portraits of dead Headmasters and Mistresses and Fawkes, Dumbledore's beautiful phoenix.

Dumbledore stood at the desk, dressed in blue robes and wearing a grave expression. James's unease was growing bigger now. He'd only been in Dumbledore's office once on an occasion he had been quite sure he would be expelled.

"James" Dumbledore inclined his head at his wayward pupil, a small smile appearing.

"Sir" he ducked his head back. Then feeling a little impatient "I know I don't have the greatest record in the school sir, but I swear I haven't done anything."

Dumbledore waved at a seat in front of his desk and James sat. Dumbledore followed. McGonagall had stepped back to the door and James became keenly aware of the gazes of the portraits on him.

He looked at the Professor, silently asking for him to explain. Dumbledore sighed and then his piercing blue eyes met his hazel ones.

"I am very sorry to tell you this James" Dumbledore said quietly. "Your parents have been found dead."

A/N: Ok, this is my first Harry Potter fic, I don't know how'll it turn out, hopefully well, but I don't know. But my God I've been going through stories on Harry Potter and there are sooo many! It's staggering, the number of pages right now is 10,199, how will I manage to read them all? I'll grow old beforehand.


	2. Chapter 2

James heard the words, yet his mind refused to comprehend them. His hearing seemed to diminish, his thoughts ceased.

"James?" Dumbledore seemed to be speaking from very far away.

Something grasped his arm and it brought comprehension with it. He started and seized the arm attached to the hand. He blinked rapidly and Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall came back into view, looking at him in concern.

"What?" he managed to croak.

Dumbledore's eyed were filled with sadness and regret. He nodded slowly.

"They were killed in a raid at Diagon Alley" he said quietly. "Your father was jeered and taunted for his plan to overhaul rights of various half human creatures." He sighed. "Insults were thrown at them and various Ministers-and then curses. Your parents were killed, along with five others. I am very sorry James."

Icy realization gripped him. Of course, his mother had told him of his father's radical decision only yesterday. It had been born from an argument between himself and his father. Harry Albert Potter was in Magical Law and was responsible for the writing of new laws. There had been talk of further restriction of half human creatures because of their involvement with Death Eaters. Including werewolves. James had argued furiously, pointing out that repression was the main reason they would join Voldemort. In doing so, he'd let slip that Remus, who would occasionally come over at holidays, was a werewolf. His parents had been horrified, much to his anger. He'd yelled that it was people who treated werewolves and others, like giants and centaurs that were the reason they would join Voldemort in the first place and that wizards were asses to believe they had the right to rule over other creatures. The rest of the visit had been very quiet.

But it had had an effect. Caroline Potter had wrote to James telling him that the fact Remus was a werewolf and James words had impacted his father so much, he planned to introduce new measures against the new laws. She had also said that she and his father were very proud of their son's views.

James felt his innards tighten painfully. The last memory he had of his father was shouting at him. Shame and guilt welled in him.

"What's happening?" he asked, trying to repress the memory.

"There is a memory mass taking place now" Dumbledore's eyes met his. "Your neighbours arranged it in your home. I believe you should go and make arrangements. Minerva shall accompany you."

Professor McGonagall nodded.

"Can Sirius come?" he blurted out. He wanted all of his friends there, but he didn't think that would happen. He hurried on, afraid they'd say no. "Sirius spends his vacations at my place; he's been doing it for a year and he'd want to..."

"That's fine" Dumbledore interrupted. "I am afraid Misters Lupin and Pettigrew cannot accompany as well, as much as I know they'd like to come, they all can't go. Mr Black can go. Minerva if you could collect him?"

McGonagall nodded and turned to James. "Go and collect your things. Mr Black and I will meet you in the common room."

He nodded and stood. He left quickly, unable to bear staying in the office any longer. As soon as McGonagall went out of sight, he broke into a run. He didn't stop running until he reached the Fat Lady's portrait.

"Flabbergastic" he panted before she could say anything and she swung open. He hurried in. There were very few people there, most were still in class, much to his relief. He ran up to his dormitory. In record time, he had chucked his belongings into his trunk: his schoolbooks, bag, Invisibility Cloak, pyjamas, robes and various tidbits. He was slamming the trunk lid shut when the door burst open and Sirius ran in.

"McGonagall just told me" he gasped. "Mate..."

James shook his head, silently pleading with his best friend. He understood and clapped a hand on his shoulder and quickly began to pack too.

Not quickly enough for James though. "I'm going to go get my Quidditch robes and broom. I'll get your broomstick too."

Sirius grunted an affirmative as he groped under his bed. James ran back down to the common room, spotting the very odd spectacle of Professor McGonagall sitting on one of the seats, much to the other peoples' present chagrin.

"Getting Quidditch stuff" he murmured as he passed her. She nodded. "I will see you in my office Potter."

He sprinted back down the corridor, ignoring looks he was getting as he ran past. He dashed to the Gryffindor's changing room and grabbed his Chaser gear. Not keen to run to the broom shed, he lifted his wand. "_Accio brooms!"_

There was a crash and both his and Sirius's brooms hurtled toward him. He seized both and dashed back towards McGonagall's office, brushing past Filch.

"Potter!" he bellowed, clearly ready to tell him off about running in the corridors. James was oblivious. He ran past and nearly crashed into Lily as she came out of Charms.

"Watch it Potter!" Lily exclaimed, glaring at him.

Nancy grinned. "This isn't the way to bowl a girl off her feet Potter" she drawled, causing Lily to flush. James didn't even notice her.

"Out of my way Evans" he snapped, causing her and her friends to stare.

"James?" Remus called. He came over, looking at him in concern, Peter behind him.

"You okay, James?" asked Peter tentatively.

James grabbed Remus's arm and in a fast whisper, explained. Lupins eyes widened and his face paled. The rest of the class were staring.

"Is everything all right?" minuscule Professor Flitwick inquired coming to the door. "Ah, Mr Potter, you missed..."

James didn't hear him as he continued his mad dash down the hall, oblivious to the shouts behind him. He continued, at this stage gasping for air, outside McGonagall's office.

"Ah, there you are" she said briskly. She and Sirius and the trunks were standing at the roaring fireplace. He tossed Sirius's broom at him.

"Mr Potter, you first" she said quietly and he grabbed some of the proffered Floo Powder and tossed it into the fire. The flames leapt upwards turning emerald green. He lugged his trunk and broom forward, stepped into the fireplace, took a deep breath and shouted "Potter fireplace!"

There was a rush and he was spinning around in the green flames, not harming him but making him dizzy... and with a lurch he fell into his family's living room.

Breathing hard, he staggered upright. The familiar large sitting room was full of people all of whom were gazing at him. Their faces were filled with a mixture of recognition, sympathy and pity. James's stomach clenched.

A house elf came scurrying over, her eyes filled with bright tears.

"Master James" she said in as soft a voice she could manage. She voice shook. "Blinky is sorry that so many are here, sir, but Miss Annie is saying that we should let them come in sir. Blinky is also very sorry for Master James's loss sir."

James nodded dumbstruck, just as 'Ms Annie' came over. She was their neighbour, elderly , well rounded and well meaning-but exasperating.

"I am so sorry James" she breathed quietly, while others were coming over and Sirius came through the fireplace. "Well come on give your things to Blinky and come over to your parents friends."

James's throat closed as he looked at the people. Professor McGonagall came out of the fireplace and joined the group.

"Well?" Annie said as she looked at him inquiringly. People were starting to murmur amongst themselves.

Sirius looked at him and James looked back at him and Professor McGonagall. They understood; he couldn't handle this.

"I think Annabelle" McGonagall announced. "That Mr Potter would like to spend some time to grieve alone."

Annabelle looked flabbergasted. "But-these people"

"Will simply have to leave" McGonagall finished. She turned to the people. "I'm afraid you will have to go now."

There was protest. McGonagall's eyes narrowed and she opened her mouth, except for Sirius to intervene. His temper had been rising.

"Oi! He just found out his parents are dead and now has to face you bunch of twits? Out or I'll hex you out!"

He pulled out his wand for good measure. Scandalised, the crowd moved toward the door. Annie was muttering exclamations and trying to stay back but left when Sirius pointed his wand at her.

Mercifully, the people vanished, save for the vicar, who had been in the crowd. Small and ferrety, he was a friend of the Potter's.

"My condolences" He inclined his head.

James nodded silently.

"If you wish I can have the funeral arranged" he said quietly.

James felt his emotions beginning to crack. He nodded again, wishing them all to leave.

"Ok, that's tomorrow" Sirius said loudly. "Thanks very much." He waved the vicar to the door and came striding back.

"Thanks Professor, but we got it from here." There was a note of dismissal, but McGonagall didn't argue. She stood and looked at them both. "If you need anything" and turned on the spot and vanished.

Blinky seized the trunks and brooms and scurried out of the room. Alone with Sirius, James let his emotions go and cried.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Wow someone actually reviewed my story, cool! I was thinking about deleting it, but after finding out someone liked it made me change my mind, so thank you Hogwarts-Hero! And off we go again!

Hums "we're off to see the wizard..."

A week later, James Potter stood at a secluded part of the Potter land; his eyes dry as he stared at the priest. The small ferrety wizard was speaking but he might as well have been in another universe as far as James was concerned. Or maybe that was him.

He was standing at a freshly dug grave amid others from previous Potters, Sirius at his side. There were several other people at the graveyard, for which James was grateful for. He didn't want to have to deal with to many mourners or phony condolences. It was the two teens, several of his parents close friends, a couple Ministry workers that Harry Albert had actually liked and Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall. James was touched that they'd asked if they could come to pay their respects, he appreciated their asking and not outright assuming they could come as many people had. James had flatly refused a full Ministry funeral, not wanting to deal with the pomp and ceremony. This had caused a stir of protest by officials, neighbours and nosy journalists, most of whom who would just come because of the scandal surrounding the Magical Law Minister's death at the hands of extreme prejudice. Blinky had been furious about the nosy and uncaring people harassing her master and had hurled every one of them out of the home with magic, shouting her squeaky voice hoarse at the fleeing wizards. The sight of Blinky squaring off against a dozen or so trained wizards and coming off the easy victor, had shaken James out of his daze for the first time since he'd learned of his parents death and he and Sirius had been in hysterics.

The memory made him smile slightly, despite the complete inappropriateness of the situation. His mother would have found the incident hilarious while his dad would have made appropriate apologies, whilst congratulating Blinky behind closed doors. The elf at this moment was standing beside her new master, her eyes streaming. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Sirius blinking hard. James stomach clenched. He'd been so shaken at his loss; he'd nearly forgotten how Sirius felt. James parents had adopted him somewhat after he'd run away from his uncaring, awful family. Even before that, they'd always invited him over for periods of the summer to let him escape from his family's attitude and mannerisms that Sirius was alienated from. He had to be taking this badly too. He was just better at hiding it.

James was diverted from his thoughts when he became aware that the priest had now walked to the top of the grave. With a wave of his wand the double coffin rose and very gently lowered into the ground. James's heart ached. Blinky had taken his hand and was squeezing his fingers.

With a gentle thud, the marble coffin hit the bottom of the grave. James flinched, but lifted his own wand. The pile of dirt at the side of the grave rose and with a tiny flick, settled on top, forming an even mound.

He lowered his wand, staring at the grave for a moment. That was it. They were gone. They weren't coming back. Familiar hot prickling stung his eyes, but he refused to cry. He'd been an emotional basket case all week. He'd shed enough tears.

The small crowd had begun to murmur among themselves as the ceremony ended. There were stray sobs amid the hushed voices. James forced himself to remain at the graveyard. He'd been avoiding most of the crowds until now. He could at least do this small bit before going home. His mother would have been furious if he had not at least tried to be polite to her friends.

The first to come was Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall.

"Boys" Dumbledore greeted quietly. McGonagall nodded, dabbing the corner of her eye with a handkerchief.

"I am deeply sorry James" Dumbledore said softly. James could see the sadness in his eyes and he nodded. He knew that his parents had been quite close to Dumbledore; they had been part of the Order of the Phoenix and there had been mutual respect on both sides.

"Do you know who did it?" James asked quietly. Aurors were working hard trying to find who did it, but James trusted the Headmaster's opinions much more than the Ministry's.

"Another time" Dumbledore glanced around. James understood, even though the thought of his parents' killers still at large made his vision go red.

Dumbledore looked at James piercingly, his eyes almost going through him. "I know you're angry. And I know you will want revenge for what the guilty party have done. But don't try and find them yourself James. Your parents would not want you dying for vengeance."

James said nothing. Intellectually, he knew that to be true. But the anger still burned.

"I will visit sometime later in the month" Dumbledore said, his voice even softer. "And tell you both" he nodded to Sirius "all I know. I will pursue my own investigation and I will inform you of my findings."

The anger in James faded slightly. If Dumbledore was going to take care of this, the culprits wouldn't have a hope of getting away. He would be the better one for this, he never missed a trick and James reluctantly acknowledged he was far more likely in finding the people who had done it and living to tell the tale.

"James, Sirius." Dumbledore shook their hands. Professor McGonagall did as well.

"I should hope you pair stay out of trouble on your own?" she arched an eyebrow.

"Don't worry Minnie" Sirius flashed a half hearted grin. "Blinky will keep us from doing anything too drastic."

"I should hope so" she smiled at the elf, for once not telling Sirius off about his nickname for her. She nodded at James, her eyes unusually sympathetic. He nodded slightly in return. Both professors turned and walked to a specific spot and vanished.

For nearly an hour, James stood and received condolences from his parents' friends. He was glad his parents would be missed be people and not privately think it was somewhat better that they were gone. Sirius stood back from the talks, but near enough to show his support. Blinky was ushering those that had talked to leave.

Finally the three were alone.

"I is making some food now" Blinky announced quietly. "You is needing to eat Master James and young Sirius." She hurried off, leaving the two alone.

"I'm sorry" James said abruptly. Sirius looked at him baffled.

"For what?"

"This isn't any easier for you." He gave his best friend a look as he opened his mouth, looking ready to object. He sighed and drooped his head.

"I'm going to miss them" Sirius said softly. "They were great people, they didn't deserve this. I wish they'd have done that to my family; it would have done the world a favour."

James smiled faintly and clapped a hand to Sirius's shoulder. They stayed there for a few minutes.

Sirius stirred. "We're going to need a headstone."

Looking around, James saw several loose pebbles on the ground. He pulled out his wand, enlarged one and turned it into marble. He levitated it onto the top of the grave and under his command, words were engraved;

_Harry Albert Potter_

_Caroline Justine Potter_

_Who fought the right the wrongs._

It sounded cheesy, James mused. But also right.

"We should go" he said softly. "Knowing Blinky, she'll make a feast and will tie us up until we eat everything."

Sirius grinned slightly.


	4. Chapter 4

The summer weeks past by in a blur for James. It seemed wrong, strange that life continued after his parents had died, yet days passed, by, indifferent to James opinion.

Throughout the weeks, James did not go anywhere without Sirius or Blinky following him, keeping him aware of life around him. They stayed at Potter's Manor; its grounds so large and open and hidden from prying eyes, it kept them free of outside interference. James was quite sure Blinky and Sirius were talking behind his back, but James couldn't make himself feel irritated. He knew they were trying to help and he constantly reminded himself he was not the only person who would miss his parents.

Every day, Blinky would wake him and Sirius, who was staying in James's room, up, and give them breakfast. She would then badger them to wash and dress and then would shoo them outside, only letting them back in for a very large lunch or dinner, threatening to tie them to their chairs until they ate enough for her satisfaction.

When the school holidays started, they were often visited by Remus and Peter. Together with Sirius, they seemed to have made it their mission to help James get out of his 'funk', as Peter helpfully put it. Remus was sympathetic and logical and James found it easier at times to confide in him. Peter and Sirius would try and think of pranks for their next and last year of Hogwarts.

"Come on Prongs" Sirius pleaded for about the umpteenth time.

"I don't know Padfoot" James sighed exasperately. After all of the drama of his parents' deaths and funerals, he was gradually taking an interest in life again. To his surprise, talking to Sirius or Remus really did help. He hadn't wanted to burden his friends but was touched and grateful when he realized they wouldn't budge. Peter tried, but in all honesty, both teens knew this wasn't really his area.

Sirius however, was doing something he had to a fine art-distraction. He would badger James to death about his feelings, but when it came to his own, Sirius was more tight-lipped than Professor McGonagall when she was furious. He led people away from his feelings by acting the fool and clowning around but James could tell instantly. But a very stubborn Sirius was never a good thing to handle early in the morning.

"Prongs, we are the Marauders, the epitome of pranksters and coolness" Sirius declared solemnly. The four Marauders in question were sitting under an old oak tree in the middle of one of the many Potter owned fields, one near the house. Remus and Peter had stayed the night and sat on either side of James and Sirius.

Remus yawned loudly, causing Sirius to throw him a dirty look. "Mate, it's going to be our last year. We HAVE to do something spectacular."

"Why are we planning now?" Remus inquired. "We normally just make do with opportunity that comes our way."

"Because it-is-our-last-year" Sirius stressed delicately.

"I'm with Moony Padfoot" James said firmly. "Pranks work better when we know details."

"Details?" Sirius goggled at him. "Prongs, we organise these things for about a week at most. We don't plan absolutely everything to the last detail."

"You sound like Moony" Peter laughed and Remus snorted. "Look Pads if we come up with ideas, we'll give them to you to take down. But I'm not spending the whole summer organising strategies on how to turn Slytherin's common room pink or how to put firecrabs into Snape's pants."

"Have we done that?" Peter asked curiously.

"No" Moony sighed reluctantly as Sirius scribbled down the ideas. "What do you plan to do for the summer then James?"

There was a pause.

"I don't know" James sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "But I need to go to Diagon Alley and the outside world _eventually_."

"We know" Remus nodded.

"But you know everyone's talking about...." Peter broke off, quailing under the furious stare Sirius was giving him. James smiled inwardly.

"My parents? I kind of figured Wormy. I'd be more surprised if they weren't. At least I know Blinky's wards are working; only you guys have been able to get into the place since the funeral."

"How do they work?" Remus asked curiously, the book worm side of him showing.

"Not sure, but I think she's just cast some charms that stop people she doesn't want coming onto the grounds. You should have seen her handle the Daily Prophet reporters hiding in the front bushes. She went nuts. She asked permission to put wards around the whole property and they only let certain people in."

James glanced at Sirius during this and saw he was looking at his list as though it was the most fascinating thing he'd ever seen.

"You helped with those wards huh?"

Sirius looked up sheepishly. "Yeah. One of the days you were lying in, she and I chased those hags from the Prophet away from the house for about the tenth time, she mentioned them. She was going to do them anyway, but was going to ask permission, you know for appearances. I told her the people that the wards didn't need to affect. So there are us four, Blinky herself, Dumbledore and Minnie."

"Anything else you'd like to change about my house Mr. Padfoot while you're on a roll?" James asked archly.

"Now that you mention it, Mr. Prongs, I do believe the third floor would make a fine indoors Quidditch pitch" Sirius returned smoothly.

James snorted. "Not a hope in hell. Mum would come back from the dead and hex me into oblivion if I did that."

The two boys laughed; after making sure the two were okay with talking about Caroline Potter, Remus and Peter joined them.

An odd noise reverberated around the grounds, cutting them off. James instinctively leapt to his feet, pulling out his wand. Sirius and Remus copied him and a beat or two later, Peter did.

"That was the warning" Sirius frowned. "It means that someone's entered the grounds with permission. Must be Dumbledore or McGonagall."

"I didn't hear them earlier when Wormy and Moony came."

"Blinky was expecting them; she turned the volume down."

Despite this, James held onto his wand. He was glad he was seventeen and didn't have to worry about underage magic. Crossing the field, he was in the pantry in moments. A loud crack announced Blinky's presence.

"Master Jamsie" her old nickname for him "Professor Dumbledore is waiting for you in the sitting room."

"Thanks Blinky. Tell him we're coming." Blinky bowed again and Disapparated.

Within a minute, he and fellow Marauders were sitting down across from the Professor; Peter squirming slightly. Normally so close to the Professor meant they were in trouble. But this wasn't the case.

"Hello Professor" James greeted briefly; the others quietly chiming in. They knew of Dumbledore's promise to look over the murder of the Potters.

"Did you learn anything Professor?" James inquired, skipping over Dumbledore's offer of sherbet lemons. Blinky fluttered her eyelids in disapproval, but said nothing as she set tea, cakes and biscuits on the table.

"I told you I would look into your parents' murders" Dumbledore looked at James intently.

"And?" James prompted.

"It is my belief they were killed by Death Eaters." Dumbledore looked grave.

"Your father was trying to end werewolf and part human discrimination. By eliminating them, it turns people away from ending the prejudice, in fear for their safety and strengthens hatred and misunderstanding among part humans. Voldemort" Peter flinched "can therefore offer something werewolves don't have under Ministry rule-freedom. Pointing that people are unwilling to change old age racism and wish to stick to tradition where they are outcasts support in Voldemort's ranks grows."

"Pretty complicated plan Professor" Sirius said sceptically. "Killing the people trying to bring change and pinning it on anti-werewolf movement, as so to bolster your own support?"

"It does make sense" Remus murmured. He was pale.

"Yes" Dumbledore agreed. "By implicating anti werewolf legislation and prejudice among the ordinary people of the wizarding world in a time of war, portrays a society that will not try and change things for the discriminated. Of course, there is great prejudice among part humans" he looked at Remus "for werewolves in particular. Turning them against the rest of the society means Voldemort has strong allies in werewolves and giants especially."

"Not this werewolf" Remus snarled, his voice harsh. James looked at his friend in silent understanding and gratitude. He knew Remus was sensitive about his condition and how he felt about werewolves working for Voldemort.

Dumbledore nodded at Remus, smiling very slightly at the somewhat chagrined look Remus had on his face for his outburst. Sirius patted his arm.

"How about the people how caused the riot?" James then asked.

Dumbledore sighed heavily. "Aurors' arrived at the scene very quickly as you know and managed to place anti Apparation spells before the crowd could disperse. I have no doubt someone in their custody is one of the Death Eaters, maybe even one who killed them. I have been trying to arrange a visit to the captured men, but it's proving tedious. The Ministry is not communicating well with each other and I have a suspicion they do not want me to interfere in their-methods-of interrogation."

James clenched his jaw in frustration. Being stuck in the house with not much contact clearly left him in the dark somewhat. Knowing that his parents' murderers could still possibly be at large or simply in oblivious Aurors hands made him angry.

"I shall of course, keep looking" Dumbledore looked at James intently. "I know this is hard, but I must stress the dangers we are facing. Seeking revenge in this brewing conflict would almost certainly spell your death boys."

_What a way with words Dumbledore,_ James thought sardonically. But he nodded, fighting the other side of him that burned with the fury of vengeance.

"On that note, I must go" Dumbledore stood. "Despite all that has happened, life does go on and I find myself yet again, searching for a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher." He shook his head ruefully. "Here are your Hogwarts letters; it saves the bother of sending an owl through the excellent wards Blinky has set up." He smiled at the elf, who bowed deeply, delighted.

With a final chorus of goodbyes, the Headmaster left by Floo. James sighed and absentmindedly slit open his letter.

"You ok mate?" Sirius asked quietly.

James shrugged and ran a hand through his unruly hair before letting the contents of the envelope onto his lap. Something heavier caught his attention and he pulled the source up, attached to it another letter. His mouth fell open.

"What is it?" Sirius asked puzzled, eyeing James.

"Dumbledore gave me Moony's badge!"

A/N: And on that, I take my leave for the moment. Having somebody review this actually encourages me to continue but I have no idea if it is actually any good.Let me know will you? Oh and also about Dumbledore's talk about werewolves actually make sense? I can't tell any more.

Until then.


	5. Chapter 5

"Padfoot" James shook his friend. "Paaaadfoot wakey wakey. Oh come on mate, d'you really want me to freeze your pants again?"

Sirius mumbled incomprehensively and then started to snore. Again. James groaned and shook his head at the ceiling. Some things never changed.

The summer was well and truly flying past; there were only a couple of weeks left before school started again. James didn't mind; he was becoming restless stuck in his suddenly empty house full of memories. It had been a painful ordeal sorting through his parents' things, unable to bear the idea of throwing things away or putting things up in the attic. In the end, he Sirius and Blinky had decided to leave everything in their old bedroom. The door to it remained closed firmly ever since.

He and Sirius had stayed in the Potter's Manor all summer; often accompanied by Peter and Remus, spending the last two full moons out in the grounds as animals. Now though, with school bearing down on them, they had decided to meet up in Diagon Alley for school things and-as Sirius had insisted-to stock up on Filibuster Flaming Firecrackers, a very cool new -must have- prankster product. That was, of course, if James could manage to rouse the comatose Padfoot.

James gave up. How did Remus _do_ this? He stuck his head out his bedroom door. "Hey, Blinky?" he called.

In an instant, said house-elf came scurrying from a different part of the house.

"Yes Master James?" she squeaked.

"I can't wake Sirius up" he explained, rolling his eyes. He could use magic, but he'd rather not spend the rest of the day on tenterhooks waiting for Sirius's retaliation.

"Ah" Blinky nodded knowledgeably. She blinked her large eyes at the Sirius shaped lump curled on a mattress. "You is needing me to wake him up, yes?"

"Can you?" he said hopefully. They were supposed to meet Remus and Peter at noon and it was already half past eleven.

Blinky nodded slyly. With a snap of her fingers, a still asleep Sirius floated above the bed, snoring undisturbed. Tutting, Blinky pulled the duvet off and marched out of the room, a finger pointed at the still floating Sirius, so that he drifted after her. James, suppressing the urge to laugh, followed. A crack in his bedroom made him turn before leaving and he saw Sirius's pyjamas folded neatly on his bed. He crept down the long landing to the large bathroom, where Blinky was directing a still asleep and now naked Sirius in.

"Food is on the table, Master James" she informed him, grinning slightly. She shut the bathroom door firmly behind her.

James stood outside the door for a moment, nearly quaking with suppressed anticipation. There was a hiss of water and then-

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"You is needing to hurry young Sirius, or you is going to be late!" Blinky trilled.

James could hear Sirius swearing violently at the top of his lungs very clearly behind the door.

"YOU IS NOT NEEDING TO USE SUCH BAD LANGUAGE!" Blinky shrieked.

Bent over almost double, James staggered down the stairs, not wanting to get caught behind the door and risk getting hexed by his best friend. Gasping for breath, still sniggering, he made his way to the ground floor.

Though the Potter manor only had three floors, they were spread over a wide area. Decorated in shades of reds and gold (almost all Potters had been in Gryffindor), the manor was made of white marble, with elegant chandeliers and carvings in every room. The more formal rooms, such as the dining room, bore their elegance rather well, other rooms, like the sitting room, was a little more battered and 'lived in' despite house-elf interventions. There weren't very many rooms downstairs, but they were quite big. The second floor had the bedrooms, a large number of them. And the third floor held work, magic artefacts and other things the Potters had accumulated over the years. James had gone up once or twice before and knew Remus would die for a chance to go up and examine even half of the trove. Unfortunately for him, only those with the name Potter could enter, as James and Sirius had discovered a couple of years ago.

Still chuckling James entered the kitchen. Large and spacious, one section of the kitchen was for cooking and at the other end through an arch, led to the eating table. Primarily Blinky cooked, but Caroline Potter had loved to cook and there had been memorable arguments between the two about the issue. Caroline, though a pure-blood, had never had a house-elf and had never felt comfortable issuing orders to Blinky. But she had forbidden Blinky early on not to bail James out of cleaning his room or picking up after him. She was adamant that her child was to learn how to do things himself and not have others do things for him. Harry Albert had always been exasperated by her views, but she'd insisted. And as always she'd gotten her way. Not that James ever really mastered the art of picking up after himself. But he'd learnt early on not to focus a little on it, if he wanted to stay with his broomstick.

Standing briefly in the doorway, James briefly had flashbacks of his parents; his mum in the doorway greeting him, having won the right to cook that particular morning. His father chuckling from behind the Prophet at his wife's antics greatly amused. His throat tightened. Shaking his head hard, he made his way to the food laden table. He shook his head wryly. It was just as well Sirius lived with him now. He'd never have been able to eat all of the food Blinky put on the table, though he'd make a valiant attempt.

He was piling rashers onto his plate when a grumpy looking Sirius entered, now dressed and awake, his hair damp. Blinky scurried in after him.

"Eat up Masters, we is not wanting you's to be getting hungry later" Blinky fussed, before moving to the cooking section.

Sirius fell into his seat across from James and began pulling everything within reach.

"Good morning" James said brightly. Sirius scowled.

"You house-elf's almost as nuts as Kreacher. Never thought I'd say that" he muttered darkly before attacking his breakfast with gusto. James smiled into his goblet. Even the rude wake up hadn't dampened Sirius's appetite.

Ten minutes later, the food was almost gone. Feeling stuffed, James stood and stretched, yawning.

"You is tired, Master James?" Blinky inquired worriedly.

"Just fully waking up Blinky, its fine" he assured his housekeeper. He turned to his best friend. "You ready Paddy?"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Let's go, Prancer" he returned as the left the kitchen. James elbowed him.

"See you later Blinky" James called. He and Sirius stepped out the front door, bright sunshine hitting them.

James took a deep breath. "You ready?"

Sirius grinned. As one, they took a deep breath and turned on the spot.

After the unpleasant sensation of Apparation ended, James blinked and breathed out again. He grimaced slightly and quickly checked to see that his best mate was okay. Apparition was dead handy, but the sensation was deeply disturbing.

Sirius flashed a quick grin at him and moved forward. They had Apparated inside the Leaky Cauldron, just beside the door to the Muggle world. To his slight surprise the pub was quieter than normal, only a few people around the bar. Tom the barman was as usual standing behind the bar. He looked up at the pair and his eyes widened in surprise and welcome.

"Hey Tom, just passing through today" Sirius said before Tom could say anything. Tom looked surprised again, but nodded.

James and Sirius left the bar to the courtyard behind it. James pulled out his wand and tapped the necessary bricks. The wall moved and Sirius and James were greeted to the site of Diagon Alley.

The familiar street was different. It wasn't definite or incredibly noticeable, but it was there. The colourful windows were more subdued, the usual bustle less overwhelming. People moved to and fro hurriedly. There were less people standing around and chatting than normal and he could see dark robed Aurors patrolling the street. It seemed that the war was suddenly more than just a story. It was affecting ordinary life.

James swallowed. He had not forgotten his parents had died here; rather preferred to forget the details. But the difference in Diagon Alley was in no doubt attributed to it.

"Come on mate" Sirius clapped a hand to James's shoulder, his voice striving to be cheerful. "Let's not keep Moony and Wormy waiting."

James nodded and the pair moved off. The first stop they made was to Gringotts to take money out of their respective vaults. That done they went to find their friends.

They approached Filibuster Flagrante. Peering inside, James could see Remus and Peter hovering around the fireworks. He entered, Sirius at his heels.

"Hey fellow Messers" James said as he got within earshot.

"Hey Prongs, Padfoot" Remus greeted them. The other boys face was pale from the full moon three nights ago and he seemed tired. Nevertheless he smiled happily at the sight of his friends.

"Hey guys" Peter chimed in. He glanced up at them briefly, before turning his attention on the fireworks. He lifted one up, which was shaped like a mouse.

"Cat traps" he read. "Tap your wand on the firecracker and let it fall within the vicinity of the cat. Once the target is close enough, the cracker will activate, with entertaining results. Not intended for cruelty to animals."

"Not intended?" Remus raised an eyebrow. "How'd they figure that?"

"Hey let's get some for Mrs. Norris" Sirius suggested.

"Ohh, good idea!" Peter grinned brightly. As a rat animagus, he had a narrowing escape from the evil caretaker's cat a time or two.

"Don't you just get tired of chasing her around on four legs when Filch isn't around?" Remus muttered to Sirius, smirking.

Sirius pretended to think for a second.

"Nope!" he said brightly before joining Peter in selecting the firecrackers. James and Remus left them to it and restocked their supply of No Heat Wet Start Fireworks for the Halloween feast; an unforeseen prank that had gone wrong in first year that had led to a yearly tradition.

"Come on guys, we're going" Remus called to the still pondering Sirius and Peter.

"Awww, come on Moony" Sirius whined.

"No" Remus said firmly. Grumbling, the other two regrouped and the Marauders left.

Remus immediately dragged the others to Flourish and Blotts to purchase new school books. Sirius muttered mutinously under his breathed for the entire duration until Remus threatened to hex him. Ten minutes after they had bought their school books, Sirius took revenge on Remus for forcing them to leave Filibusters and insisted they leave, to Remus's chagrin, who was poring over some new spell books.

James rolled his eyes. "Right. Quidditch Qualities next."

The two arguing boys groaned. Peter laughed.

Wandering aimlessly down the aisles, James looked at the gear. He didn't really need anything, but he decided to buy a new Snitch for practise. He had been sternly reprimanded by Madam Hooch for nicking the school ones, so buying his own one made things easier. He sighed inwardly. Head Boy was already influencing him. He made a mental note never to mention this critical detail to Sirius.

He moved up the aisle, ready to queue, when he suddenly bumped into someone.

"Sorry" he and the other person said in unison. James looked at the person in surprise. It was Mary MacDonald, fellow seventh year Gryffindor.

"James" she said, startled.

"Hi Mary. What are you doing here?"

"Shopping" she said dryly, but she blushed slightly. Frowning James looked at what she was holding. It was a new broomstick, a Comet 230.

He felt a small grin tug his lips. "Thinking about joining the team this year?" He knew she was a good flyer, but she had never tried out before.

"We'll see" she returned smiling back. She flicked her blonde hair over her shoulder and pulled her purchase closer to her.

"Mary?" James heard a familiar female voice call at the front of the shop.

Mary chuckled. "The others aren't big on Quidditch." She shook her head mock sorrowfully. "But you can't get everything in friends."

"Speak for yourself" James smiled at the thought of his friends.

And speaking of his friends-

"Why, Lily-Flower!"

"Don't call me Lily-Flower Black!"

"Uh-Oh" exchanging glances, the two made their way toward the front of the shop. Sure enough there were the Marauders, along with Alice, Nancy and an angry Lily.

"Black if you keep calling her that, there won't be anything left of you to be identified" Mary remarked as she and James stepped out.

"Ladies" James nodded once to the other girls. Dimly, he thought it strange that he wasn't freezing up at the proximity of Lily, but he brushed it off.

The girls exchanged glances, Lily looking momentarily startled.

"Hi James" Nancy spoke up. Her dark eyes scrutinised him. She hesitated and then stepped forward.

"I'm sorry about your parents" she said quietly.

Behind him, James could feel the guys shifting and felt Sirius drape an arm around his shoulders, Remus and Peter just behind him. James stared into Nancy's eyes, seeing sympathy and understanding. She would know how it felt. She'd lost her father to Voldemort's followers. He nodded slowly.

"Thanks" he said softly. Nancy nodded back, smiling sadly.

"We all are" Alice spoke up earnestly, but quietly. James nodded to her in silent thanks. Beside her Mary's face was crimson.

"Damn, I'm sorry" she said, looking mortified. "I didn't even think about it."

"We don't try to either" Sirius said easily, letting her off the hook.

"Are you ok?" Lily asked. Her emerald eyes, her best feature, were concerned and hesitant as she asked James. Her cheeks were colouring, no doubt remembering who she was talking to; the arrogant bullying toerag.

James just shrugged at her. "Getting there" he said honestly. "These guys are great." He gestured at his friends.

"Marauders are family mate" Sirius said firmly. He pulled Remus and Peter forward with his free arm.

"I know." He pulled himself together. "Come on Mary, we should pay." He gestured towards the till. Still a little embarrassed, Mary followed him.

The two had rejoined the suddenly larger group when Remus suggested "Why don't we get something ice-cream and hang around together for a little while? We won't see each other until September after all."

The girls exchanged glances. James glanced at Sirius and Peter, both of whom nodded their approval. He shrugged. "Sounds good. Girls?"

"Sure" Nancy responded after a brief pause. The group moved off to the ice cream parlour, a little awkward. They never tended to hang out since Lily couldn't stand James or Sirius. But they seemed willing to stay for the minute.

They squeezed into two booths after placing their orders. Silence fell.

Playing with her spoon, Lily spoke up. "Remus, did you get Head Boy?"

"You'll never guess who got Head Girl" Mary said slyly. Lily blushed.

"Would that be you, Lily-Flower dear?" Sirius asked innocently. Lily glared at him, but bodily harm was prevented by the arrival of their ice-cream. Sirius immediately grabbed his bowl and seemed to inhale his. Lily looked disgusted.

"Congratulations Lily" Remus said quickly, looking away from the dog animagus's enthusiastic eating. "And no, I didn't get Head Boy." His chocolate brown eyes twinkled. "But I do know who did."

James cringed slightly, staring at his ice-cream.

"You do?" Lily asked in surprise.

"You'd never guess" Peter chimed in, cottoning on, grinning. James glanced at Sirius. He had stopped eating his ice-cream and was hanging his head.

"It's not Black is it?" Lily seemed horrified.

"My dear Flower" Sirius said dramatically. "The world has not completely ended. However it is on its very threads of sanity."

James caught Remus's eye. Silently, they agreed. They should not have let Sirius have ice-cream. He got hyper on a couple of glasses of pumpkin juice.

"But then who...?" Lily trailed off. James peeked a look at the girls who were all staring at him. Nancy was smirking, Alice and Mary were shocked. Lily's mouth hung open.

"Potter, you got Head Boy?" she said dazed.

Suppressing a laugh, he adopted a voice reminiscent of Dumbledore's. "Indeed Ms. Evans, my colleague Mr. Padfoot is right. The world has dissolved into insanity."

Peter snickered.

"Wow" Mary blinked. "Congratulations!"

James laughed. "In all seriousness, you guys are right. Dumbledore has lost his marbles giving me Head Boy."

"I wonder if he ever had any" Peter muttered. Everyone laughed, except Remus and Lily, both of whom looked disapproving.

Sirius smirked. "He wrote to Dumbledore when he got the badge, saying that he'd given him Moony's badge."

"And that if it wasn't a mistake, had he been Confounded recently?" Remus chuckled.

"Come on" James protested. "You deserve it more than I do Moony."

"And Dumbledore said he gave it to you because he believed you needed to take on some responsibility" Remus countered.

Peter snorted into his ice-cream. Sirius on the other hand looked distraught.

"What are the Marauders coming to?" he wailed. "You can't be in a position of authority!" he whined melodramatically.

"Moony's a prefect" James pointed out.

"Yeah but he's Moony. He's the responsible one!" Sirius exclaimed. Remus was scowling at Sirius. Mary and Alice were giggling, Nancy was smirking and Lily was frowning, though her mouth was twitching.

"Well, look who it is" a cold sneering voice cut through the laughter. James jumped up, grabbing Sirius as he leapt up.

It was Lucius Malfoy and his fiancée Narcissa Black, Sirius's cousin. His pure blood mania part of the family, hence his reaction.

Malfoy's eyes swept over the group. He smiled coldly at Sirius and James.

"You should consider your company more carefully" a nasty smirk played on his lips as he looked over Lily and Remus in particular.

Sirius swore and reached for his wand; James just behind him. Behind them Remus seized their arms, stopping them. James tugged, but it was no use. Remus had enhanced strength from his werewolf side. It does have some uses, he reflected ruefully.

"Guys don't" Remus muttered. "They're not worth it."

"I don't know about that" Nancy spoke up. She had risen and was playing with her wand. Lily and Alice grabbed her arms too.

"The only company we're regretting is yours" James said icily to Malfoy. "So take your pure blood opinions and stuff them up your peacocks' tail feathers."

Malloy's smile faded a little.

"Be careful Potter" he said softly. "Carry on that way and you'll wind up just like your parents."

Remus had to rely on his strength, along with Alice, Lily and Mary to stop James and Sirius launching at Malfoy. Sadly, this meant the girls had to let go of Nancy and she made her opinion heard.

She slapped Malfoy hard in the face.

Startled he staggered back a step-and fell. Peter appeared behind him slunk back over to the group pleased with himself. His diminutive figure had gone unnoticed in the fight to keep James and Sirius at bay.

Furious, Narcissa pulled out her own wand, only to freeze as Nancy levelled hers at her chest. Livid Malfoy stood pulling out his own at Nancy.

He never got a chance to use it. There was a bang and he landed on his butt again. He staggered upright to find himself staring at Lily's wand.

"You're outnumbered" she said icily. "Now go before you find out why redheads are famous for their temper."

Malfoy glowered at her, but with several wands pointed at him and a large crowd now gathering, he grabbed Narcissa's arm and the two left the shop.

"Let's go" Remus eyed the crowd.

The group quickly left. James was still shaking with fury, Sirius along with him.

"Slimy-evil-twisted-_bastards_" he hissed.

"Ignore them. You're right; they're pricks" Nancy spoke up.

The reached the Leaky Cauldron. Remus looked at them.

"Ok I'm Apparating you two back. You're angry enough to Splinch yourselves."

"I guess we'll see you guys on the Express" Alice said, smiling. "Take care then.

"Bye."

"See you."

"You guys too" Remus spoke for the lot, but James pulled himself together a little.

"See you guys soon." He smiled faintly at the girls and they all smiled back, even Lily.

"Bye James" she said. Leading the girls they walked back into the pub.

"Come on. Let's go." Remus took James by the arm and as he spun into the darkness he reflected idly Lily had called him James for the first time ever.

_A/N: Wow this is the longest chapter I've done for this story. I don't know if it's any good, but if it is or not, let me know? Please? _


	6. Chapter 6

James groaned and stirred awake groggily. Something nagged at the back of his befuddled brain, preventing him from dozing back into a blissful dream of running on all fours in a dark forest. Then it hit him with the force of a rampaging troll-school started again today!

Groaning he slid out of his warm and comfy bed reluctantly. The light coming from the almost fully covered window was bleak and he could tell the weather was gloomy.

"Wonderful" he muttered, going past Sirius's bed without even trying to wake him up. The dog Animagus had to deal with Blinky and her morning wake ups from now on and the effects were astonishing. James had never seen the other boy move so fast in the morning before, keen to avoid the sadistic house-elf as he had taken to calling Blinky. Blinky did seem to take pleasure in the task and James saw no reason why he should intervene.

Ten minutes later, a washed and casually dressed James felt a little more alive. He didn't bother going to check on Sirius, knowing Blinky would be taking care of him even as he thought of the matter. He went into the kitchen where a small feast lay on the kitchen table. He sat down and started on his rashers and toast. In truth he was glad to go back to school. Hogwarts was like a home from home and it didn't have painful reminders in every room that he was the only member of the household left. It was time to get away from all of the reminders.

The only problem was Blinky. James didn't want the faithful house-elf of the Potters to remain in the manor by herself. It wasn't fair on her just to stay on her own. He toyed with the idea of her working in Hogwarts, but he doubted she'd agree; she was too attached to the Potters for that.

He was still brooding over it when Sirius came scurrying into the kitchen, shaking his head and muttering under his breath. He fell into the seat opposite James.

"I am never going to complain about Moony waking me up ever again." He pulled a plate of sausages towards him and glanced up at his friend. "What's wrong?"

"Blinky" James chewed his lip uncertainly. "I don't want her to be on her own for the whole year."

Sirius frowned looking concerned. Despite the rude awakenings every morning, he cared about Blinky enough not to like the idea either.

"Maybe she could go to one of your cousins?" he suggested. "Or maybe one of her relations?"

Speak of the house-elf, Blinky entered the room.

"Eat up young masters, you is going to be hungry later" she frowned at James. "Is something wrong Master Jamesie?"

"Blinky I know you don't want to" James said "but I don't want you to stay on your own when we're at Hogwarts. D'you want to go to Hogwarts or to one of the other families?"

Blinky looked horrified.

"I lives to serve the noble house of the Potters" she cried. She was going to continue, but Sirius cut her off.

"We know Blinky" he said reassuringly. "But we don't want you to be alone for the whole year that's all."

Blinky softened. "Very kind masters" she murmured. "But you is not needing to worry, Blinky will be fine."

"Are you sure?" James asked reluctantly.

Blinky nodded vigorously. "Now eat your breakfasts young Masters, or you is going to be late."

James wasn't satisfied, but he acquiesced and he and Sirius devoured their breakfast.

Sirius glanced at the clock and groaned. "Come on Prongs, better get going."

Stretching, the two made their way back to the hall where their trunks were waiting. Blinky ushered them out of the door.

"Have a lovely time Master James and young Sirius" she said, her voice squeakier than normal, eyes bright. James knelt and gave the elf a quick affectionate hug.

"We'll see you soon Blinky" Sirius gave the elf a hug of his own. Then he and James turned on the spot and vanished.

His lungs expanding gratefully, James opened his eyes. He and Sirius were in a small unkempt courtyard owned by wizards for Apparating families to get to the Hogwarts Express. Pulling his trunk behind him James moved out of the way of several other people just Apparating in. He walked along, Sirius whistling beside him and turned a corner to face the Muggle train station.

"C'mon Prongsie" Sirius strode forward.

"Right behind you Paddy" James smirked and followed. Crossing the platform, James spotted a couple of obvious wizard families with trunks and owls, attracting a fair bit of attention. James was glad he'd let his owl Midnight fly to Hogwarts the night before. Not that he had many correspondents now that his parents were dead.

Shaking his head hard to stop that train of thought, he followed Sirius to the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Sirius glanced around significantly and then, far to casually, leant against the wall. James imitated him and the pair slid through the barrier.

At once the noise level changed to include excited voices and hooting owls. James beheld the sight of the Hogwarts Express and felt his spirits lift.

"Let's go find Moony and Wormy" he said, pulling his trunk along.

The two struggled through the fine mist surrounding the platform. James heard familiar voices and saw old faces, but he couldn't see the two he was looking for.

"This is a job for Padfoot" Sirius muttered.

"Don't" James warned, though it wasn't necessary, Sirius knew better. Besides, it would be hard to smell anything in this crowd.

"There!" Sirius cried triumphantly. Sure enough, the familiar figure of Remus was seen beside a compartment door.

"Hey Prongs, Padfoot" Remus said smiling. "Wormy's inside holding the compartment."

"Cool" James pulled himself into the compartment, heaving his trunk in behind him. Sirius followed, smirking smugly, his trunk trailing after him at wand point. James rolled his eyes. "Hey Wormtail."

"HI Prongs, Padfoot" Peter grinned.

James flopped onto a seat as Sirius slammed the compartment door shut. Remus was hurriedly changing into his robes.

"What's the rush, Moony?" Sirius asked.

"Prefect compartment" Remus's voice was muffled as he pulled them over his head. "You have to get them on too James."

"Huh? Why?"

"Head Boy had to come to the compartment too" Remus pointed out. He rolled his eyes. "Remember?"

James blinked. It was true; he'd completely forgotten. He looked over at Sirius who was staring at the floor.

"Better go mate" Sirius said cheerfully, meeting James's gaze. "You won't impress her Headship Evans by being tardy before school starts."

James grimaced and pulled open his trunk for his robes and flung them on.

"You have to wear the badge too Prongs" Remus said dryly. James groaned and looked at the shiny Head Boy badge.

"I'll put it on later" he said stuffing it in a pocket, but putting on the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain badge on instead. Remus frowned but said nothing.

Just then, the train began to move.

"Hey we're off again" Sirius cried, looking out the window. "Can't wait for the feast."

Remus and James just exchanged glances.

"Come on, we'd better go" Remus said.

James sighed and followed. "Save us something from the trolley Wormy?" he asked the smaller boy.

"I'll try" Peter eyed Sirius. "Padfoot might make it difficult."

"And let my best mates starve?" Sirius said in mock offence. "That's hardly a Gryffindor thing to do!"

"Nothing comes between you and your stomach Padfoot" Peter said dryly. "You're _always_ starving."

Sirius's retort was lost as Remus shut the door. James followed the other boy down the train, feeling a little lost. He'd never been on the train without Sirius before. At least Remus was still here. He was no Padfoot, but he was Moony and a great guy, no matter what anyone said about his 'furry little problem'.

They past several compartments, many of whom called greetings to two of the infamous Marauders. James nodded greetings to various people. Twice he was stopped by people asking about Quidditch tryouts. It was unsurprising that he saw many people looking at him curiously. His parents deaths were months ago, but had been a scandal. He hadn't been out in public for most of the summer, so rumours must have been ripe. As a Marauder, he was already used to staring, but this felt uncomfortably different. He was actually relieved to reach the prefect and Head compartment.

Remus opened the door, James trailing after him as quickly as possible. Inside the carriage were several fellow students of the four Houses. Old and new Prefects along with the new Head Girl, Lily. James blinked at her, vaguely entranced by her beauty. Months ago it would have reduced him to a bubbling wreck and would revert to a cocky git. Nowadays he barely cared about his own appearance, let alone someone else's.

Lily turned as Remus approached her. She smiled slightly as him. "Hello Remus" she said. She looked at James. "Hi Potter" she said without her usual bite.

"Hey Evans" James smiled slightly before looking between the two of them and around the room at the idle chatter between the other houses, while the Slytherins skulked together in a corner.

"Uh what, you know, happens here?" James asked finally, having absolutely no idea.

Remus chuckled and Lily gave him a small grin.

"We are to come up with passwords for the common rooms and give the new Prefects their duties and patrol times and do a little patrolling of the train as well" she looked at him archly. "Alright?"

Feeling like he in for a rough ride, James merely nodded meekly. Lily gestured at a seat and taking the hint James sat down.

"Remus will you help me with the new Prefects?" Lily asked. Remus nodded and exchanged glances with James; the small smirk on his face telling James his amusement of the situation. James scowled back.

For ten minutes, Lily and Remus lectured the new Prefects their duties; the older ones already patrolling or just relaxing in the compartment. James noticed a lot of them were staring at him, Lily and back again, obviously stunned to see the infamous duo actually being civil to each other. A Hufflepuff, Rachel Simmons, was whispering to her friend, sneaking glances at both Lily and James. James caught her eye and she and her friend dissolved into giggles. Girls.

"Your patrol times will be given out to you later by us" Lily gestured at James and herself. "For now you have to go around the train and make sure there's no trouble. Okay?"

There were murmurs of assent and the new crowd dispersed. James watched them go, wishing he could leave too.

"I better go too" Remus said to Lily. "I'll see you later Prongs" he flashed a quick grin in James's direction.

Knowing full well he would be going back to Sirius and Peter within the hour, James glared after him. _Traitor._

"Well then" Lily turned back to James. For an instant she seemed to waver before regaining her composure. "We have to organise patrols and passwords." Her voice was businesslike.

_Oh just great. Deadly dull work with a gorgeous girl who hates your guts. Disaster just waiting to happen. _"Alright" he said aloud.

As he expected, the work was incredibly boring. The atmosphere in the compartment was tense and stiff between the two and the few Prefects remaining, most of whom left within the first twenty minutes in response.

James flipped through the last couple of patrols left. He had been sitting across from Lily for nearly two hours now and had barely said a word. This was so unlike their old relationship; James was half tempted to turn her robes neon green just to make sure she was really Lily Evans.

"Done" Lily said, startling him.

"Uh me too" he said hastily, hoping this meant he could leave soon.

"Ok, give me your times" he handed them over. "Oh and you can pick the Gryffindor password."

He blinked at her in surprise.

"I chose the other houses so you wouldn't be tempted to pick ones that they'd hate" she smirked.

James rolled his eyes but didn't comment on her remark. He frowned thoughtfully.

"How 'bout .... Lions Den?" he suggested finally.

Lily blinked and then smiled.

"Good one. Alright, Gryffindor's one is Lions Den, Hufflepuff's-Trust, Ravenclaw's-Knowledge and Slytherin's-Pure."

"No offence they're not really imaginative."

Lily glared at him and he shrank back a bit. Yup, definitely Lily. "Better than Gryffindor rules or Slytherin's stink like something you would do."

James shrugged sheepishly.

Lily made a face and started to pack up her things. James watched her for a second and then spoke up.

"Hey Evans" she turned back to him. "I know we never really got along, but since we have to work together, d'you want to call a truce?"

Lily looked at him in surprise. Her brow furrowed as she considered him.

"Only on the condition you act your age and not your shoe size" she said at last.

James looked at her baffled.

"Muggle expression" she actually laughed at his expression.

"So.....?"

She looked at him. "If you don't act like an immature prat then yes we have a truce."

"Oh okay" he smiled at her.

"Pranks?" she raised an eyebrow.

James winced. "Can't promise anything under that Evans. But I'll try not to hex everyone who annoys me."

"Slytherins?"

Can't promise for Sirius or the guys but we won't target them or anyone specific" he replied. He could almost hear Sirius yelling at him in his head, but he really didn't want Lily to hate him when they were working so close together.

"Snape?" Lily said hesitantly.

James just looked at her baffled. Why did she still defend that slimy Death-Eater wanna-bee after everything he had done to her?

"I won't hex him if he doesn't" he said finally.

Lily looked at him appraisingly for a moment.

"Ok we have a deal."

She held out a hand hesitantly and James shook it, feeling the surprising strength of her grip.

She let go quickly and hitched her bag up her shoulder.

"I'll see you at the feast Potter." Flashing a slight smile at James she left. James stared into space for a second before following.

_A/N: wow it's been a while since I've updated. Sorry I've been enamoured to the wonderful stories on this sight and time has flown._

_I know the story is pretty boring at the moment but hopefully it'll pick up after the Marauders get to Hogwarts. Still it'd be nice if people will review and let me know if I'm wasting my time. _


	7. Chapter 7

"Hey guys" James sighed as he entered the compartment.

"Alright Prongs? Still have your manhood in place?" Sirius called from his sprawled position on the floor. Across from him Peter was studying the Exploding Snap card before carefully setting it in place for a card castle. As James had suspected, Remus had come off patrol and was buried in a book.

"So far Padfoot" James flopped onto a seat across from Remus. There was a small pile of sweets from the trolley and he gratefully picked up a Cauldron Cake.

"How did it go with Lily?" Remus inquired, lifting his nose from his book, smirking slightly. James gave him a half-hearted glare.

"I am going to get you for that. I was stuck in a compartment for two hours with a woman who has threatened the future existence of my family's name. Detention with Filch would have been better."

"You know you love her" Remus idly turned a page.

"Too bad his precious Lily Flower doesn't" Sirius commented, with a slight edge. Very protective of James, he often felt Lily was too harsh on James. He plucked up a card and sat it precariously onto the castle.

James rolled his eyes. "It went alright. We called a truce."

"How'd you do that?" Peter asked amazed.

James winced a little. "I uh, promised not to hex people anymore."

"Something you started doing last term" Remus commented.

"And promised I wouldn't hex Snape. And not behave like an immature prat, or something."

"All that for a woman" Sirius muttered shaking his head. "You are whipped mate."

"And promised I wouldn't prank as much" he muttered the last bit, but everyone heard and were staring at him, mouths open.

"You did WHAT!?" Sirius yelled the last bit, staring at James as though he'd never seen him before.

"I just promised I wouldn't target anyone specifically Padfoot" James said hastily, arms up. "I didn't say anything about pranking in general."

"Oh and that makes it _so_ much better" Sirius growled. He threw the Exploding Snap card onto the almost finished castle with unnecessary force.

"Duck!" Peter yelled diving out of the way. James threw his arms around his head and Remus covered his face with his book just as the cards exploded with an almighty BANG! The windows rattled.

Cautiously, James peeked over his arms. A fine layer of smoke hung in the air. Sirius sat cross-legged on the floor, face streaked with soot and hair in disarray, looking stunned. He looked so much like Martin Miggs out of the _Mad Muggle_ comics after messing with-dymate? Dymnite? - That James burst out laughing, clutching his sides. Remus roared with laughter while Peter rolled around on the floor with mirth.

The compartment door slid open, its windows having seen better days.

"Great look Black" a female voice said, sounding greatly amused. James, sides heaving forced himself upright to face the newcomer. Or newcomers, he mentally corrected, as standing in the compartment door was Lily, Nancy, Alice and Mary. It had been Nancy who had spoken.

Lily surveyed the compartment, her mouth twitching, but when she addressed James her voice was stern.

"We made a pact that you wouldn't muck about as much this year Potter less than five minutes ago and you're already causing trouble?" she arched an eyebrow.

"To be fair Lily" Remus had regained control of his laughter by now "it was Sirius that had forgotten he was playing with the new Exploding Snap cards; James had nothing to do with it." He turned to Sirius. "I told you those things were different to the old ones."

"I didn't realise they were that different thanks Moony" Sirius had finally recovered from his shock and was scrutinising his clothes before cautiously running his hands over his head.

Remus pulled out his wand and muttered "_Scourgify._" The soot and blast marks vanished as well as the grime on Sirius's face and clothes. James looked at his best friend's face for one second before he started laughing again.

"What?" Sirius asked bewildered, looking at James to the others, who started laughing, Lily smirking. Without a word save giggles Mary pulled out a compact mirror and shoved it under his nose. Bemused Sirius looked at his reflection.

"AHH!" His hand flew up to the area where his eyebrows should have been. "My eyebrows!" he wailed.

James, who had begun recovering, dissolved into laughter again, holding his sides. Sirius whirled to a gasping Remus.

"Moony help me!" he begged. _"Please?"_

Remus took great heaving breaths before waving his wand in Sirius's direction. Sirius's eyebrows reappeared rapidly. Too rapidly in fact and became an enormous bushy unibrow.

Not even Lily could hold in her laughter now. The four girls roared with laughter, Nancy shutting the door as they were attracting quite a bit of attention from other compartments. James was laughing so hard tears streamed from his eyes making them smart and difficult to see.

"Ahhh!" Sirius yelled in frustration before pulling out his own wand. Squinting James could just make out him waving it. Sitting up, he wiped his eyes before finally being able to see Sirius looking normal and also very peeved.

"Thanks a bunch" Sirius snapped. "Some friends you are."

"It was a great look Sirius" Alice teased, setting the girls off again. James chuckled and forced himself to calm down by breathing slowly. Remus took heaving breaths before settling down again, picking up his book, while Peter picked himself off the floor.

"Yeah yeah laugh it up Smith" Sirius grumbled, standing and throwing himself onto a seat, looking sulky.

"So what caused Sirius's fashion disaster?" Nancy asked, smirking. Remus picked up the card box.

"New Explosive Exploding Snap a real blast" he grimaced at the bad pun.

"Great something new to confiscate" Lily made a face.

"Evans" Sirius moaned "you need to get a life." Lily glared at him.

"Keep talking Black and you'll find yourself without the rest of your hair" she warned holding up her wand. Sirius shrank back.

"So why are you lot still here anyway?" he asked petulantly. Lily hesitated, apparently unsure of what to say.

"Well we followed Lily to see what the commotion was about" Nancy shrugged. "Also there were some Slytherin thugs annoying us in our compartment and Lily dragged us away before I got to curse them all."

"Good for you McKinnon" Sirius complimented, bad mood forgotten. Nancy grinned. Lily frowned.

"You should just ignore them Nance, they aren't worth it."

Nancy snorted. "They're slimy dark gits Lily and I'm not going to let them bully me around and neither should you."

"I'm not going to let them bully me into anything" Lily said sharply. "But they're not worth getting trouble over and that's what will happen if you take their bait."

"That's true" James spoke up "but some things are more important than getting in trouble." His eyes met Nancy's and she nodded to him.

"How was your summer?" he asked. Nancy's eyes narrowed a fraction.

"It was fine" she said. James didn't press the issue. "Yours?" she asked.

James didn't really no what to say to that and shrugged.

"So have you decided to try out for Quidditch, MacDonald?" Sirius changed the subject.

Mary started and blushed. "Uh, I might."

"You should" Sirius encouraged. "We need a chaser, keeper and seeker, right Prongs?"

"Yeah" James agreed. "Replacing the Prewitt's and Longbottom is going to be hard."

Lily fidgeted slightly, presumably because she didn't like Quidditch talk.

"What do you think of being Head Boy James?" Alice asked.

James groaned while his friends laughed.

"Dumbledore's finally cracked" Sirius said cheerfully. "Actually I can't wait to see Filch's face when finds out Prongsie here is Head Boy. He'd probably request a bed in St. Mungo's."

"Sirius!" Lily feebly protested while her friends cracked up.

James smiled a little at their antics, but inwardly he sighed. He really didn't think he'd be a great Head Boy; he hadn't even been made a prefect. Though the idea of him becoming a prefect was almost as ludicrous as becoming Head Boy. A thought hit him and he laughed.

"What's up?" Sirius asked blankly at his mate. James shook his head.

"Could you imagine my Dad's face if he found out I became Head Boy?" he managed to get out. Sirius understood immediately and burst out laughing. Remus chuckled while Peter and the girls looked uneasy.

"Oh Merlin" Sirius managed. "He'd have past out."

"Actually I think Caroline's face would have been funniest" Remus interjected, smiling. The other two laughed again.

*

Lily felt nervous as she watched the two. She leaned over to Remus. "Are they ok?" she asked hesitantly. She didn't want to see James get touchy about his parents death, something she was sure she would have been had she been in his place. Remus merely smiled.

"Talking about them helps" he murmured. "And he needs to talk about them, accept the fact they're gone."

Lily hesitated nodding. She sat back onto her seat, still feeling nervous. Why was she still here? Why hadn't they left yet? She'd hated Potter and the other Marauders, sans Remus for years and yet now she could tolerate their presence for over five minutes. The world had gone pear shaped.

"Your mum had a wicked sense of humour James" Nancy commented. Lily glanced at her. How did she know that?

"Uh-huh" James agreed, smiling a little sadly. Lily's heart contracted. "Yeah she was awesome. She actually thought all my pranks were funny."

Lily raised her eyebrows. "She did?"

James nodded. "Yeah Mum had a sense of humour, she liked things that made people laugh. She didn't like some of them" he admitted "but most of the fun pranks she liked. She didn't like it when we made fun of people." He made a face at that, looking vaguely guilty.

"Still at least she liked the fact you were a prankster" Sirius made a face. "It drove my mother around the twist, not that that's saying much, she always was nuts. She sent me so many bloody Howlers there's a permanent scorch mark at the place I sit at the Gryffindor table."

"When's the last time you got a Howler?" Mary asked frowning. "I can't remember the last time you got one."

"Well since I got disowned she doesn't bother acknowledging I exist" Sirius said darkly. "Not that I want her to."

Lily felt her mouth drop. Sirius was_ disowned_? She had never known that. She felt chagrined. She apparently did not know him as well as she'd first thought.

"Your family lost out mate" James threw an arm over Sirius's shoulders. "You're a Potter now."

"Uh-huh" Sirius grinned looking happier. "Thank Merlin for that. I'm never going back to them anyway."

Lily felt her eyebrows rise again. "Your whole family disowned you? Why?" she felt like a heel asking but she was curious. The rest of the carriage didn't look too surprised by Sirius's statement.

"Well, there's the fact I'm the only Black ever to end up in Gryffindor, also I hate the Dark Arts, don't believe in their stupid pure-blood mania and hate the lot of them, need I continue?" Sirius looked really pissed now.

"No" Lily murmured softly, feeling ashamed. She had never known Sirius had such feelings about his family.

"Not all of them are bad" Remus said diplomatically "Andromeda's great and so was your Uncle Alphard."

"True" Sirius sighed, running a hand through his hair. "But what really pisses me off is that they tried to force me to go back at the end of last year."

"They did what?" Lily stared at him.

"I remember that" Nancy looked grim. "Your mother looked capable of anything."

"I always thought she looked like a harpy" Alice commented.

"She certainly acts like it" Remus murmured. Lily looked at him in surprise; he was never one for insults.

"When was this anyway?" she asked in general.

"End of sixth year when we were getting off the train" James answered. His face was hard. "Sirius and I were going home with Mum and Dad when Sirius's folks came waltzing up and tried to drag Sirius with them."

"She sounded like she was ready to use the Imperius curse if she had to" Nancy frowned, looking pissed. Mary looked horrified. Lily felt the same.

"So what happened?" she asked urgently.

"Mum stepped in" James grinned a little. "Told her in no uncertain terms that Sirius was coming home with us and she could take her over inflated opinions with her and shove it. Or something like that."

Sirius let out a bark like laugh. "That was absolutely brilliant. One of my favourite moments in my life. The look on my dear hag of a mother's face was priceless. My father's was too. Threatened to take legal action against them for taking their eldest child away." He snorted. "Mum was ready to hex us and Caroline pulled out her wand and dared her to try."

"It was actually scary" Peter shuddered. "Their mums looked ready to kill."

"It's true" Remus agreed, looking somewhat angry. "But Mrs. Black backed down eventually after a huge shouting match."

"They finally figured out that their undignified behaviour was not suitable for pure bloods of their standing" Sirius spat out the words as though they were a Stinksap Every Flavour Bean. James tightened his grip on his friend and Remus threw his arm over his other side as well.

Sirius cocked his head. "How'd we get onto this anyway?"

James paused. "No idea."

Remus chuckled.

"Let's stop talking about my family anyway, it gives me a strong desire to throttle someone" Sirius announced. James withdrew from Sirius in mock fear. Sirius growled and playfully reached for James neck.

"Hey James, remember that time our grandmothers got together for tea when we were five?" Alice asked. She was sitting cross-legged on the floor along with Nancy and Peter, while the rest sat on seats.

"How can I forget? Discussions about my arranged marriage when I turn seventeen; it nearly scarred me for life."

"What?" Lily dropped a Pumpkin Pastry that Remus had handed her.

"You never told us that!" Sirius exclaimed sitting up straighter.

"That's because it was one of the most traumatic things I have ever experienced Padfoot" James shuddered, whether genuine of not, Lily couldn't tell.

"Your grandmothers talked about James having an arranged marriage?" Peter asked in disbelief.

"Yeah" Alice grimaced. "With each other."

Sirius, Peter and Nancy roared with laughter. Remus was chuckling and Mary was giggling. Smirking Lily addressed her crimson friend.

"You never told me that" she said pointedly.

"When's the date? I'll be sure to get an invitation mate; I can't believe you wouldn't tell your best man when you're actually getting married."

"Shut up Padfoot!" James threw a Cauldron Cake at him, who grabbed it and bit into it.

"How come you never told us you and James would be getting together? Does Frank know?" Nancy asked innocently. Alice glared at her.

"For Merlin's sake, it was years ago and it never went further than that. Did I ever thank you for that James?" she asked.

"No you were too busy trying to keep a straight face" James chuckled.

"What happened?" Remus asked interestedly.

"Well Alice and I have known each other for years 'cause of our families. Anyway when we were five our Grandmothers were at my house along with Alice. Dad wasn't there for some reason or another and poor Mum was trying to be as polite as possible to them but she was ready to crack when they brought up marrying me and Alice."

"I remember" Alice grinned. "If you hadn't done something I'm sure your Mum would have."

James grinned. "I sort of didn't like the idea of getting married, you know, who does when their five? So I sort of set off a Dungbomb underneath Alice's gran's seat."

Alice laughed along with everyone else. "She was in bits. She left in a hurry then, swearing that I would never marry such an insolent brat and how such a _respectable_ family could get such a child."

"Gran wasn't much better; she threatened to cut me out of her will. Had no idea what she was talking about at the time and she calmed down a week later." James snickered.

"They were mad" Alice shook her head fondly. "Ah well she'd be pleased about who I'm with now. A respectable pureblood family." She shook her head wryly.

"Is that why our grandparents wanted you to get together?" Lily asked feeling a little surprised.

"Yeah" James made a face. "They're just from a different time, you know? Old teachings die hard and even though our families are pretty relaxed about Muggleborns and stuff, they can just be a little hypocritical."

"The Potters, Longbottoms, Smiths, Weasleys, Prewitts" Nancy ticked off.

"McKinnon's" James added.

She nodded. "They're the old wizarding families that are regarded as the newer families, the more tolerant and open-minded. Well supposedly. And the other families-"

"Like mine" Sirius said bitterly.

"-Are the old style wizards, the ones that believe blood purity matters. Again supposedly" she said looking at Sirius.

"How did we get here?" James scratched his head. "We were talking about Quidditch and that Dumbledore had finally gone mad at one point weren't we? And now we're talking about the stupid wizarding divide, how?"

Lily opened her mouth just as the intercom blared into life. "Attention all passengers we are arriving at Hogsmeade station in a few minutes, please be ready to board off. Please leave your luggage on the train it will be taken to the school separately."

"Excellent!" Sirius leapt up. "I'm starving."

"You've been eating since we came in!" Mary stared at him.

Sirius shrugged. "Yeah, but we had to share with you lot since you came in, that's not fair is it?" He grinned and turned to his friends. "Ready?"

Remus rolled his eyes, marked his book and stood up."Ready."

"See you guys later" James called to the girls as the Marauders left the carriage just as the train began to slow.

"Well that was different" Nancy commented.

_Ok, sorry for such a long time to update, I was busy and I'm still not sure this is coming out right. Hopefully back at Hogwarts should liven things up a little. Please review and let me know what you think._


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